Campo Grande and The Pantanal

In terms of tourism, Campo Grande serves only as the jumping off for most people heading into the Pantanal. On the map Campo Grande simply looks like a small town in the middle of no where. The reality is, however, that Campo Grande is a city of over a million people and the home to very active industry. Although the city is rather bland and “normal” on the surface, Campo Grande will serve as a nice place to prepare for the trip or a great place to relax and recover from your trip into the Pantanal. And if you have a few extra days, the nightlife in town will jump out at you as it is more active than you’d expect.

The Pantanal should be on your list of must see destinations in Brazil. It is the most bio-diverse place on earth and absolutely bursts with life. In the dry months (June-October) you will have a much easier time than the wet season. However, regardless of the time of year you visit you will have the opportunity to see a wealth of wildlife including, if you’re lucky, jaguars and pumas. If you don’t see the big cats there are still monkeys, capybaras, toucans, about 20 million cayman and a number of tropical birds that will keep your attention.

The Pantanal, Brazil

Things to do in Campo Grande

The Pantanal: The most popuar activity to take part in while in Campo Grande is booking trips to the Pantanal. There are about 40 different agents that sell tours of a varying quality. If you are looking for a good budget choice check out Ecological

Cayman in the Pantanal

Expeditions which are found in the Campo Grande Hostel. If you book a 3 day trip with them they’ll also put you up in their hostel for a night either before or after your tour. Of course, things change drastically Brazil. Check around with fellow travellers, tripadvisor, and the latest guide books to find out which companies are operating best right now.

Where to Eat in Campo Grande

There is a real good Brazilian BBQ, a churrascaria, near the Campo Grande Hostel called Galpao Gaucho that has great food for decent prices. Other than thet in the median on the road to McDonald’s there are a number of places that sell burgers, hot dogs and lanches for very cheap prices.

Where to Stay in Campo Grande

The Campo Grande hostel is a great place to stay. A private room with real hot water showers will only run you about 15US$ and you’ll get one free night’s stay if you do a tour with their agent. There is a pool to relax by, a bar to drink at, and a great breakfast buffet; what else could you want?

2 Comments

Paul Henry

March 26, 2014

Did you get paid for your recommendations of companies? Because it certainly sounds like you are doing a lot of promoting. I noticed someone else said the same thing for companies that you mentioned in Sucre. Seriously? To travel to all these places you must have had a paid job as a Tour Guide or something similar and if so you would be consistently going to places that were doing deals with companies you worked for. Fine, but at least declare this information somewhere rather than giving the impression it’s off your own back! By the way, do a simple google search on ‘Ecological Expeditions’ and you will see that they have terrible reviews and a terrible reputation. Pantanal Discoveries don’t seem that much better by the looks of things.

No mate, I’m a journalist. It’s my job to cover these things. I travel so much, because it’s work.
I paid full price for my trip to the Pantanal and if there is ever a case I’m on a paid press assignment it is disclosed.
Not really sure where the angst comes from here on your end, but I can assure you that the company I went with was good value. I had a good time, and if there’s terrible reviews online, I’d not be surprised either. But I’ve only been once, so I can only make judgement based on my one trip, which was good. Also, it’s worth noting that about 2 years has passed since I’ve been there, so things undoubatble change.
So next time, instead of being confrontational about it, say “Hi Brendan, I’ve been reading online and found that the company you went with is getting terrible reviews, thoughts?”. No make unfounded claims.